


divine

by orphan_account



Series: markhyuck's journeys around this god-damned world! [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Castles, Crushes, Dysfunctional Family, Flowers, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, JaeDo, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, bear w me, confusing as hell, donghyuck is a prince, excessive use of the word flower and moon, kind of?, lapslock, mark lee is stupid and in love, markhyuck, ok wbk he was already, sorry bby, taeyong is donghyuck's brother, taeyongs mentioned for three seconds, uwu, very ooc doyoung tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-01 06:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16759858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: donghyuck is a prince who visits his castle's garden at midnight every day.minhyung's the curious gardener living in the shadows, always awake for the child of the moon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd and unbothered!! enjoy

prince donghyuck's only in a blue, wool sweater and white pyjamas tonight. he, as usual, has his beloved oil lamp with him, as he explores the castle's mystifying garden gracefully, quietly, so as not to wake the sun up too early.

august wind decides to steal the flame of the lamp's small candle, yet donghyuck doesn't mind. the moon's soft glow kisses the whole garden, flowers the prince can't name drenched in dull light.

but minhyung, even from his place mostly masked by tall bushes, even if the flowers have lost their shine from the afternoon, knows each and every shrub, lily, rose, hell, _rock_ in the garden. he longs to tell donghyuck, the trespasser he granted permission to dance around his proudest accomplishment, about his favourite flowers.

he can't, though, and minhyung's painfully aware of this. how can he tell the prince, the boy who's gone further than 'out of minhyung's league', so casually, "hey, i notice you in the garden at night and i hope this isnt stalker-ish but you're kind of beautiful when you look at my flowers"?

the answer to that is in three parts:

1\. donghyuck would slap him.

2\. the king would banish him from the kingdom for talking to his son without permission, leaving minhyung's work to some other random gardener.

3 donghyuck would slap him a second time.

so, minhyung appreciates what he has for now: his god-forbidden crush, staring down at whatever flower he fancies.

they both have secrets, but minhyung's are far more dangerous.

the prince gazes at white carnations. his friend, the moon, notices, and casts her light upon the boy and his flowers.

. . .

minhyung likes fixing up the garden in the dark. it's a weird habit, but it strangely consoles him to shovel dirt and pick out dead flowers from the ground.

he sees one of the castle guards walk outside, probably one about to yell at him for still being in the garden at midnight. because it's probably just dongyoung (he's the only one who cares about his getting back to the staff's living quarters), minhyung starts to laugh.

"aww, hyung, missed me too- _what_."

it's not dongyoung by a long shot. instead, it's a shorter, thinner boy with perfect curls on a perfect head, and minhyung can see the faintest glint of a perfect silver crown.

_"prince donghyuck?"_

the mentioned turns to minhyung's voice, confused. "shouldn't you be sleeping?" he says, more of a command than a question. there's not a trace of malice in his voice, which makes everything all the more worse.

minhyung bows deeply, and whimpers out,

"i could say the same, prince."

donghyuck giggles daintily, and minhyung could have melted _just_ then.

"don't worry about me, minhyung, just get some rest, please."

_he_ _knows_ _his_ _name?_

bowing once more, minhyung mutters out a "goodnight," and scrambles into the castle.

.

"minnie," dongyoung whines. the two are supposed to be sleeping in their tiny bedroom in the living quarters (minhyung _obviously_ claimed the top bunk of their squeaky bed), but dongyoung can't seem to shut up tonight.

"mhmffmfm" is what the elder hears.

"on the _queen_ , lee minhyung, wake your ass up."

"it's like shit o' clock in the morning, hyung, let me sleeeeep."

"i know you're not even _trying_ to sleep. you got a _crush_ , don't you."

at the mention of the word, minhyung's head is dangling off the top bunk to face dongyoung, who's already sitting upright and smiling his annoyingly-cocky smile.

"everyone who works at the castle is ugly except you kind of," he states, "but you're dating that chef anyways. i don't like anyone. good _night_."

"oh, but what about the people who _own_ the castle?" dongyoung grins, and minhyung _really_ wishes the guard could stop asking about everything and nothing at 2am every night. "jaehyun isn't a chef, by the way, he's a culinary _god_."

"right."

"it's the prince, isn't it?"

"yeah. taeyong's hot, can i sleep now?"

"no, fuckwad, _everyone_ thinks he's hot. his brother, donghyuck, isn't he just your type?"

"dongyoung hyung."

"i saw you and him together"- oh, _no_ \- "from the balcony on the third floor."

"eat shit."

tired of the numb feeling in his brain (but moreso of his hyung's conjectures), minhyung flops back onto his mattress, and _almost_ dozes off, until,

"you'd be a cute couple!"

minhyung climbs down the ladder, sits on dongyoung's bunk, and promptly proceeds to sucker-punch his gut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first chapter was more of a prototype lol hopefully this one is better
> 
> UNBETA'DDDD
> 
> thanks for reading <3

. . .

seeing prince donghyuck in his pyjamas does something to minhyung's heart. black hair styled immaculately and a boy dressed to the nines are things of the past; now, there's only minhyung, donghyuck, and the garden.

it's much too intimate, though, and minhyung feels like he's invading. the high and mighty prince lee god damn _donghyuck_ , reduced to nothing but someone as mundane as himself- it's bizzare.

however, he can only allow it, donghyuck roaming the garden with pink slippers on his feet and a dazzled look on his face.

minhyung doesn't think his contribution to the castle garden is all that great; the previous gardener built light grey gazebos and benches to match, scattered about on the mowed grass. he just planted red, purple, white flowers that mirrored the royal family's proud colours everywhere.

even if he'd never thought that his garden was that of a god's, donghyuck sure as hell did, and had done so for a good two months.

("60 days," the prince giggles to no one, maybe the sky. "60 days, i've been here at night, haven't i?" 

the other boy doesn't hear him.)

minhyung's sitting in his favourite gazebo, hidden from the world. purple violets sing to donghyuck, and minhyung hums along to the tune.

. . .

he isn't an insomniac, minhyung knows _that_ much, but he likes staying up once in a while, tending to his garden, until even time loses its place in the sky. he's up late enough on some days that dongyoung's become overprotective of him, in fear of "wolves, or something!" finding the gardener.

what he _doesn't_ know is why prince donghyuck is beginning to do the same. donghyuck, the boy who's up at six every morning to greet jaehyun and the other chefs at breakfast.

and yet, minhyung can't bring himself to mind too much.

on donghyuck's fourth or fifth late night visit, he isn't in his normal, professional wear, but rather his famous white button down partially undone and black dress pants, and minhyung damn near _squeals_ , almost exposing where he is in a run-down gazebo. there's five of them, but he'll only sit in the dingiest, oldest one because he doesn't think the prince will see him there, closed off from everything except the garden and the moon.

it's raw, the prince's look, so raw that minhyung's going to have a hard time at their one-sided meetings if he keeps it up.

.

when he crawls into his bedroom at three am, he's startled to see dongyoung wide awake, grinning with his patented "i _knew_ it" expression.

"how was your date?" _not_ _this_ _again_ , minhyung thinks.

"how the fuck, hyung, did you know where i was?" minhyung pouts, which always seems to make dongyoung open up.

"jae sees donghyuck at the ass-crack of dawn, an' he says he smells like lillies!"

"okay, that doesn't relate to me?"

"you smell like the lillies too, minnie."

he's right, unfortunately- the scent of the flowers has overpowered the smell that comes with late night/early morning conversations.

" _oh_."

. . .

minhyung is going to do the dumbest thing he's ever done on a sunday (or a monday, he doesn't care). 'it', being finding a single rose to give to the prince, waltzing up to him, and asking about his sleep schedule, tainted by red chrysanthemums.

and so, our hero completes his master plan (two thirds of it, at least).

" _minhyung_?!" donghyuck gasps. his yelp was probably loud enough to wake someone up, but the garden's big, so what minhyung's worrying about, he can't comprehend.

"hi, prince donghyuck, you wanna talk about, like, everything tonight?"

"i, uh, _sure_?"

for two hours, they do just that: talk, on a bench not yet touched by dew.

minhyung asks, donghyuck replies. the prince shares how his parents ("the big guys," as dongyoung calls them) fight every day and his brother is never in the castle, probably drinking and gambling somewhere- so, he seeks refuge in the garden.

he also says that minhyung's odd spying-from-the-gazebo wasn't that peculiar, as he's used to thousands of pairs of eyes on him at once.

and minhyung feels _terrible_ , for watching the prince all those days from that stupid gazebo, now that he knows donghyuck hates it.

the gardener apologizes for the umpteenth time, and he's thankful that his blush is hidden. donghyuck smiles, and tells him,

"it's fine, cute boys are the exception."

it's the coolness of the soft wind, the little galaxies in the prince's eyes, the thought of holding donghyuck's hand, soft as petals, with his calloused, dirt-caked one, that makes minhyung cry out,

"then let's run away, you and i."

as a cloud once blocking the moon drifts off, grey light floods the garden, and minhyung can clearly see donghyuck, who's taken aback, but still playing with the rose.

"when? how? could i even-"

"royalty's nice and all, i'm sure, but imagine it- leaving your parents and your brother and all those people behind for a village somewhere we've never heard of, prince, where nobody knows us."

minhyung gulps. the moon loves donghyuck, for she casts her radiance onto the boy's face. he looks so beautiful with the light sculpting his face even more so that minhyung can't distinguish the prince from the enormous, silver marble above them. therefore, he decides,

donghyuck _is_ the moon.

"we could go tomorrow, just find some carriage of the castle's, load it up with money and things, prince donghyuck, we could drive away from it _all_."

minhyung can't believe himself or what he's saying, but it's too late to stop himself.

"would there be a garden?" donghyuck sighs, eyes begging for an answer. silently, he shuffles into minhyung and wraps his arms around his torso. he's crying with such little noise minhyung doesn't notice at first, until he feels drops of water, liquid ivory, heavy on his chest.

"duh," he breathes out, rubbing his hand along the prince's back as he weeps into dawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet u didnt see that coming hA....(u probably did idk)
> 
> HELP I THINK MY IRL IS READING THIS OHMYGOS


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u made it to the end congrats you've surpassed 99% of the population in terms of patienceness/dealing w my headassery
> 
> unbeta'd  
> <3

monday evening, minhyung writes a letter to dongyoung and crafts a small boquet for him. he leaves them on the elder's bunk, closes the door of his home for the last year and a half, and walks upstairs to donghyuck's room.

he gets a few stares from some maids seeing him climb the stairs- seulgi and yeri, he thinks, are their names- but he understands; why is the _gardener_ , of all people, going to the royal family's private floor?

the guards of the fifth floor are suspicious, too, but dongyoung is there, telling them that minhyung has "business".

although he's on duty (so is minhyung, technically, but there's not much "duty" for a gardener), minhyung drops the suitcase he's been holding and runs to his friend, sobbing "thank you for everything, hyung" into his shoulder.

the guard _knows_ , somehow, and hugs minhyung back.

"good luck with him, minnie."

.

donghyuck's bedroom is bigger than minhyung's family's cottage back home, but he can't take in anything except the prince. 

they kiss for seconds, minutes, eons, until they fall onto the bed with a thud. donghyuck laughs into minhyung's mouth, but then separates their lips.

"minhyungie," he chuckles lazily, toying with the hem of minhyung's shirt.

"prince donghyuck."

neither boy has loved like this before; it's a new, foreign feeling to the both of them, but it always takes minhyung's breath away (literally _and_ figuratively, much to his dismay).

"don't call me prince, idiot."

"okay, prince."

"on my mother and father's holy land, i swear to-"

giggling, minhyung shuts donghyuck up by peppering his lips, nose, cheeks with kisses, until donghyuck blurts out,

"when do we leave?"

"in three hours," minhyung says. "the night guards won't notice, will they?"

"nah, they're not asleep, but not awake, if that makes sense."

it doesn't, but minhyung pulls him closer, still.

. . .

donghyuck's used to "the boring life", as his husband calls it.

he waters the red lillies planted along the windowsill, humming some dumb tune that minhyung played on his guitar once.

their cottage is so far away from his old home, no one in town's even heard of donghyuck, and it's so _relieving_.

minhyung's at work in the garden, selling flowers at the wooden stall in front of their home that they built so long ago. their main business is the grandma that always visits them, even if they're closed.

he can hear her from inside, but what she's talking about is... _different_ from the normal.

"yanno, young boy," she croaks, " that donghyuck boy of yers is a reaaaaal beaut."

"is he, really?" donghyuck laughs; it's minhyung's voice.

"he's so dreamy!" she says, gushing with an unknown pride. "my grand dawta neva stops talking about him!"

"he's something, alright," minhyung smiles as he ties a piece of twine around a boquet of daisies.

"a prince, i'd say!"

"i guess." donghyuck grins at that, and he's sure minhyung is still smiling too. "here are your daisies, ma'am. how about four silver coins for these?"

"take all my money," she cries out.

"i, uh, don't think i can?"

"take all my money, just let my stupid grand dawta marry donghyuck!"

"not a chance; have a nice day."

.

they've lived here for years on end now. minhyung has grown handsomely, a young, 21 year old turned 32 year old husband.

contact with the castle hasn't been made since their escape, and probably won't ever be. though donghyuck doesn't miss his brother or his parents enough to care, minhyung had to sacrifice dongyoung for his new life; he's sure the man's doing fine with jaehyun, so he doesn't worry too much.

somehow, donghyuck's features are the same. he looks as though he'll forever be eighteen, even if he's nearing thirty.

as cliche as it sounds, their love won't ever change; minhyung will still shower donghyuck in kisses and hugs and flowers, will still stare at him so deepy in adoration, like that first day in the castle garden.

sometimes, they'll go out, hand in hand, to their garden at night. for them, it's overwhemlingly nostalgic, and donghyuck looks like a teenager again, blinded by love and fascinated by mundane flowers.

their garden is minhyung's paradise, donghyuck's haven, and their home.

. . .

dongyoung, after his tiring night shift, finds a letter and a bunch of yellow roses on his bed. minhyung isn't there, as expected.

he opens the letter:

_to my best friend,_

_the prince and i are running away, but i think you kind of know._

_anyways, dongyoung hyung. thanks for everything. it's so, so selfish of me to ditch you._

_donghyuck needs me to._

_he's not happy in the castle, i have to go with him somewhere,_ _anywhere he's far enough from his family and the public._

_i love you so much, make sure you move in with jaehyun. not in the castle, of course, but in a nice house in some nicer place._

_we don't know where we're headed, really, but it's somewhere in the countryside so donghyuck and i can have our garden again._

_thank you for the past year. you taught me everything i know in Secuding Attractive Men, and even if our skills were shit, i landed up with donghyuck and you jaehyun, so it worked out (?), i think._

_more importantly, thank you for teaching me so much about life and the world (and rabbits? care to explain, hyung?). i owe you._

_p.s. hyuckie's so cute, he's my universe_

_p.p.s. i'm sure jaehyun is yours, too. weird how our universes are different, but we're supposed to be living in the same one_

_p.p.p.s. i'll miss you so much! so much_

_with love, minnie"_

dongyoung doesn't cry easily. this time, though, he doesn't stop tears pooling in his eyes, then running down his face. he'll miss minhyung a hundred times more; there's a small hole in his heart, and he wonders if he'll be able to fill it up ever again.

"that damned kid," he laughs quietly. "sunlight ran away with the moon, won't that be a story for jaehyun?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading!!!!! 
> 
> for sum clarity
> 
> -dy is 24  
> \- markhyucks garden has a bunch of lillies n daisies n cute shit bc donghyucks a cute shit  
> \- minhyungs suitcase only had flower seeds, a toothbrush, and two sets of clothes lmfao  
> -yea theyre florists and everyone loves them *clenches fist*
> 
> if anything else is unclear ill be v v happy to explain ú_ù
> 
> simon says "comment to make the writer happy" >:(
> 
> big luvvv


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